TABLE OF CONTENTS An important part of any road is the means by which the traffic engineering conveys information about the road and any regulations that affects the way it is used to users. If this is done successfully it helps to make travel both safer and more efficient and it helps road users to ensure that they comply with the regulations governing the road that they are using.
In the 21st century technology has reached a point where it is contributing to this process by the use of radio, in-car systems and roadside variable message signs and these are discussed in detail in Chapter 15. However, the primary mechanisms for communicating with the road users remain traffic signs and road markings, discussion of which forms the subject of this chapter.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of different sign designs and it is not possible to list and identify every combination and variation here. In what follows we offer an overview of the current system and some typical examples of the main types of signs. To assist road users the Department for Transport publishes 'The Highway Code'1 which sets out the main types of signs that the road user could expect to see and it is recommended as a very useful summary and overview of signs and their meaning.
Although we colloquially refer to signs and markings, the law does not distinguish between vertical (signs) and horizontal (markings) traffic signs. In the UK the...
